Lavshuca

I’m not sure if I should be relieved or disappointed that most of the Japanese Fall Collections are turning out to be a snore this year.

One collection in particular that’s a devastating disappointment is Lavshuca’s Fall Collection. Yet again Lavshuca decided to revamp it’s eye shadow palettes with an array of rather boring shades. I thought I had all I could take with the Lavshuca Noble On palettes released for Spring but now I have another weak assemble of strange duo shadow palettes to contend with.

I feel like Lavshuca is trying just a little too hard lately. The original palettes released were such a gorgeous array of shimmering shades that just worked but lately each new design and color releases seem to be rushed with little thought. The only redeeming collection from Lavshuca in a while now would be the Summer palettes which I will be reviewing shortly.

These shades just look strange to my eye and I’m debating with myself fiercely whether I should be indulging or not. Sometimes cosmetics remind me of a great author. I’m a big reader and I love many fine authors. I find myself buying a new book release from an author that I know has long since lost it in the hopes of gathering that special feeling I felt the first time I read a book by that writer. And so it goes for cosmetics as well! For the sake of collecting I find myself picking up various pieces from collections even though I know they won’t be as great as they were the first time I was lured in by their brilliance.

Evolution of the Lavshuca Palette

Original Lavshuca Palette

Newer Palette Design

Newest Palette Design

In this case I’m wondering if I’ve learned my lessons when I purchased all the Lavshuca Noble On palette releases!

These could very well turn out to be amazingly good but for once I think I’ll sit back and wait for a review prior to being the “first kid on the block” to purchase them!

I’ll keep hope alive that the Lavshuca Winter/Holiday releases hold a special magic that the Fall releases have failed to give me!

It appears this Summer they are releasing two new palettes similar in style to the Holiday Palettes however these appear far better quality. Each palette seems to hold six eyeshadow shades. These come in two variations a cooler version which include blues, silvers, and greens and a warmer version which include golds, browns, and beiges. Both look simply gorgeous. Although I am missing the normal style of palettes released from Lavshuca I’m really not minding these at all! They are most definately in my cart for purchase when they are released!

The Holiday Palettes were made of cardboard and these appear to be made of either plastic or metal (I’d say plastic) which is nice as I found the Holiday Palettes a bit delicate!

I’m unsure of the price at this point as Kanebo has not yet updated the catalog with the info but as soon as I know I’ll pass it on to you!

I can’t wait to get my hands on these! These are simply beautiful and I’m positive if you’re a Lavshuca fan you’ll want them as much as me!

I’m positive many of you will be hyper and happy about this entry as I know quite a majority of my readers are big Lavshuca fans (as am I!).

I was excited and disappointed with the Spring releases as the colors ended up being very dark and dull. My excitement at the release of new palettes was definately high however my first glimpse left me feeling rather crestfallen with the color selection being so very “un-Spring” like!

The current palettes, entitled Noble On Eyes, have evolved yet again and although they remain familiar in size they differ in small ways from the standard Grade Eye Select Palettes in the general catalog.

I was in high debate if I wanted any of this collection but as I am such a mush I gave into temptation and got all five palettes released and three of the new lipshades!

A few of the differences that I took note of were the fact that the palette now consists of three colors instead of the standard four shades, the applicator is no longer a dual tipped sponge, it now has a brush on one end and a sponge liner brush on the other side, and the packaging of the palette is slightly different in color and design. The new packaging carries a floral cut along the outer edge all the way around and the color went from pinkish purple to a dark purplish pink.

Evolution of the Lavshuca Palette

Most shocking is the fact that each of these palettes appear to carry all the same dark base colors while leaving us with one vibrant shade for our lid! Le Sigh! How very boring!

However, the good news is that each has a bit of a lighter or darker shade to it so really even though they appear the same they have little tiny differences! Still disappointing none the less but at least it’s not a total loss that I have five palettes with the exact same colors!

The palettes come in a pink, blue, green, orange, and tan variation. To create your look with these you’ll be using the lightest shade (on the bottom left corner) on your highbrow as a highlighter and also as a liner for your bottom lash line. You’ll use the middle color on your crease and the dark shade (upper right hand) as a liner. This is basically what I can glean from the diagram. Hmm. Sounds interesting!? I guess it’s best we use our imaginations while applying and see what we can do with such wonky colors!

From what I can see BR1 and BG1 carry the same base colors while the middle color is different! PK1 may look dark but actually the lower left hand corner color appears to be a very sandy pink color to my eyes! GN1’s lower color is a golden sheen while OR1 is a sandy beige.

The upper color is mostly the same in three out of five of the palettes. OR1, BG1, and BR1 appear the be the same while GN1 is a lighter variation and PK1 is the lightest in the lot!

So even though they appear to carry the same colors they are very slightly different from each other aside from BR1 and BG1.

The Spring Collection happened to bring a new color release for the Grade Color Select palettes which I didn’t get as it was blacks and grays and I have plenty of each. Sadly, no new colors for the Grade Eye Select which may mean they are phasing them out of the catalog. I hope not as they are actually my favorite! We shall see what Summer brings!

It deserves to be mentioned that color pay off is what you make of it. A lighter hand will get you a beautiful natural look while a heavier hand that’s packing on color with leave you with a more bolder, vibrant look. Lavshuca shadows have good pigment to them and with a little work you can create a lovely eye with them!

I used BG1 this morning and sadly it came out a complete mess to me. Working the darker browns with the lighter aqua shade in the palette was difficult at best. The completed look, to me, appears very washed out and just ugly. I’m really not loving how these combine! Although they look great on Puffy in the promo images I am unable to prefect the same look. Using the darkest shade to line the aqua just made it a mess so I ended up removing it and tried applying the darker shade to my lid while highlighting with the aqua, again I got crummy results. I somehow ended up with the lightest shade highlighting my highbrow, the aqua all over my crease and lid, and the darkest shade applied lightly on my lid and lining my upper lashline! After all this drama I think it came out crap! Maybe I was rushing too much this morning so I can’t give these a totally bad review yet! I have to test a bit more to make my final decision.

With the palettes they also introduced a brand new lipstick entitled Rouge Essence Bar. To me it’s basically the same old standard lipsticks but in keeping with the current theme they just packaged it different. However, the formula for these does appear creamier and less gritty then the original lipshades. I find the old lipshades had glitter in them and weren’t as flawless to apply as these are plus they had a bit of a gritty feel to them! These are very moisturizing and creamy and have excellent color payoff and indeed they do have a touch of shimmer! I think I may want a few more of these! I ended up purchasing three colors.

RS1, RD2, and RD1

Evolution of Lavshuca’s Lipstick

I’ll be uploading my FOTD later today so you can see one of the palettes in action! I’m not particularly thrilled with these to be honest and I think you can safely skip these if you’re unable to locate them at retail price. If you’re a collector or you can get these at retail they may very well be worth picking up. The lipsticks are a definite buy as I found them very good quality!

Overall, a little bit of a disappointing collection!

Got some of this?Want it?Loving the shades of the Noble Eye Palettes?Not so much?

Many of you are already in the know about what’s coming up in the Spring but I thought I’d do a bit of a Spring Round Up of the Collections that are popping up with a little commentary about each!

Do share your own thoughts and tell me how you’re feeling about these collections!

NARS was one of the first Spring Collections I seen pop on the scene with it’s Shanghai Lily Collection. It also happens to have set the theme for this year’s Collections with it’s bold look. As beautiful as the collection is it leaves me with a bit of a question mark hanging over my head as it’s not in keeping with my general look of Spring! The colors are very bold and dark reminding me of a Fall Collection rather then the light feeling of Spring. The star of the collection for me would be the newest eyeshadow in Abyssina which is soft pearl shimmer.

Overall, I really do love the look of the collection but it loses some of it’s appeal when the weather begins to warm up and I’m looking for a softer look! If they released this for the Fall I’m positive I’d be all over it like white on rice however this fails to wow me at the moment! I’ll definately pick up Abyssina but the rest I can do without until the colder weather sets in and the feel of Spring has left the air!

Smashbox hits another foul ball with it’s Green Room Collection. It consists of tons of bronzey shades and again it appears they confused seasons here. This look reminds me of a more Summer feel with it’s warmer, golden colors! Last Spring we got a rather nice surprise with the Tokidoki Collection however this too wasn’t worth your time. Aside from the gorgeous Tokidoki themed packaging the actual product and colors were a bit too sheer for my lighting thus this year we ended up with another dud. The Green Room Collection fails on all accounts for me and I can’t pick out a single item out of the collection that intrigues me. This one is can be skipped on all accounts.

For the sake of being an avid collector I did indeed purchase some of the Givenchy Denim Collection this year just because I’m so diseased but I can’t help but feel ripped off. Again, we have really dark colors for the Spring! I’m starting to get confused what Season we are heading into here! The collection has absolutely nothing to redeem itself and it consists of all dark, deep colors that I can’t even associate a Season with! I hate to say these things as I’m such a collector and fan of Givenchy but this collection leaves no lasting impression on me! Saks also happened to pop up with a new Prismissime for the Eyes which consists of colors from the Sweet and Decandent Chocolate Prismissime. It’s quite lovely and has since made it’s starring appearance on Sephora however again another disappointment. I purchased this even thought I already own the Sweet and Decandent Chocolate Prismissime palettes separately but it’s not an absolutely have to have for a few reasons. One would be the fact that again the colors are completely off Season for me and secondly if you have the original palettes you really don’t need to shell out the cash for this new palette unless you’re as sick as I am! After some confusion it’s finally been cleared up that the blue-purplish blush you may have seen as part of the Collection is an Asian Exclusive, Japan to be exact I believe so of course we got ripped off on that. I debated myself for a while whether I should have my friend get me the blush but I’ve since decided I’ve overindulged in this collection and I really don’t need more items I probably won’t even use!

Overall, the Collection is interesting but it loses points for it’s dark colors! If you’re a collector I, of course, recommend it for purchase. If you’re not, it’s safe to skip it!

After much debate I decided to get a majority of the Lavshuca Spring Collection! In keeping with the current theme Lavshuca decided to take the Fall road as well and introduce a ton of palettes that contain some bronzey, brownish looking colors with one lighter shade. Again, I’m scratching my head in confusion! A good friend of mine, Mayu, lives in Japan and isn’t so busy at the moment so I’ve had her do the Spring Collection Shopping Spree for me and I ended up getting the new Noble On Eye Palettes. Just call me curious but I have to see for myself what the drama is with these palettes. They intrigue me to say the very least. The new slim style lipshades have also piqued my interest and I’ve decided I must try these as well but if you ask me they just look like the same standard Lavshuca lipstick in new packaging but we shall see!

Overall, this too seems to be a disappointment but I’m eagerly awaiting the package which should be here soon so I can review these!

Majolica Majorca has my heart this season with their newest Majolook palettes! I cannot wait to get my hands on these! At least the colors are reminding me of Spring here with beautiful pinks, aquas, and golds! Thank you Shiseido for having a heart and gifting us with true Spring palettes! Click here to read more about MJ’s newest Collection!

Much to my utter dismay Jill Stuart’s Seductive Eye Collection totally broke my heart. How do I dislike thee, let me count the ways! Matte shadows? My god the horror! Similar to every other JS Palette released? Check. More dark colors? Sheesh. I can’t believe I’m about to admit this but I skipped on all of the newest releases from JS this year and I plan on sticking to my word about purchasing these as they were just not interesting at all! Click here to read about the Seductive Eye Collection!

I believe I’ve bored you enough with my Musings about Spring Collections! I’ll be reviewing quite a few Spring Collections soon as I purchase them!

Click Here to Read about My Impressions of the Dior Spring Collection 2008